A New Chapter
by daydreamingxo
Summary: Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist, Father? Tony and Pepper and in for the surprise of a lifetime when two little lines change their lives as they know it.
1. Life's curveballs

Chapter 1:

It was well past 3 in the morning and Pepper was over a month and a half late and she already knew what the outcome of the test in her hand was going to be. She sat there waiting a small piece of her that had always wanted a baby, but she knew being in a relationship with Tony Stark meant that it would pretty much never happen, but plans are always subject to change.

What was only supposed to take three minutes seemed like it was taking three hours. She knew Tony would flip out, he wasn't ready for this, there were days Pepper didn't even know if he was coming home alive but now adding a child to that equation seemed unfair to him or her.

She looked down to see two very solid pink lines. She knew from this moment on her life would never be the same.

Tony noticed she had been in the bathroom longer than usual. He walked up to the crack of light under the door. "Pep... Are you alright?"

She could hear a concerned tone in his voice.

"I'm fine Tony," she lied "I'll be out in a sec."

"Are you sure? You've been in there-"

She quickly shoved the positive test into a tampon box under a sink, and opened the bathroom door. "I'm fine." She looked him in the eyes

"If you say so." He kissed her on the cheek and walked back to his side of the bed, Pepper following behind him.

The next morning Pepper found herself on the bathroom floor, this time with her head in the toilet. After a fifteen-minute vomit session she got herself together.

She walked out into the kitchen and saw Tony flipping pancakes over the stove.

"You alright Pep? You really haven't been yourself the past couple of days."

"Yeah, I've just been a little out of sync, that's all." She lied with a smile

"... and all the puking?" He asked confused

"I must have just caught a bug." She said calmly

"Alright then." He said putting a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of her

"Blueberries?" a gag formed in her throat

"Yeah, Don't you like blueberries?" he asked even more confused

"No." She yelled out running to the bathroom

She walked out five minutes later and her face was red with embarrassment

"Alright, your not okay! Look I have to leave right now to catch my flight to New York but please go to the doctor, take some time off, just relax." He said with his hands on her shoulders.

"But I'll be fin-." She protested

"Please Pepper." He cupped her face in his hand "You never take a break, just 'til I get back on Friday. Ok?" He tilted his face and gave her a peck on the lips

"Fine." She said with a huff "I'll miss you" She kissed him

"Bye babe." He said walking to grab his suitcase

"Bye." She called back to him

She was pacing around the house waiting to leave for her doctor's appointment She decided to call Rhodey for advice.

"Hey Pepper... What's going on?" He answered cheerfully

"Hey Rhodey, well um...a lot." She swallowed "I'm pregnant."

"Wow, how did Tony react to the news?"

"That's the thing, I haven't told him quite yet." She said shyly

"Pepper, all I can suggest for you to do right now is that you talk to him immediately about it, this isn't something you should keep from him."

"I know, I'm just afraid of how he'll react,." She paused. " But please just promise me one thing... Don't tell him yet, I need to on my own time when I'm ready."

"You have my word, good luck Pepper."

"Thanks Rhodey."

She hung up the phone and headed out to the doctor's.

Once she arrived at the OB/GYN and filled out all of the usual paperwork she sat down and her mind began racing. She was afraid how Tony would react , she wondered what her options were would it even be fair to their baby in the situation they we're in, Tony being in constant danger, their relationship, him maybe never even wanting children.

Her thoughts were put to an end by a nurse, "Virginia Potts", she followed the nurse back into an exam room where she took Pepper's vitals, had her change into a gown, then left.

She laid back on the exam table and relaxed, which ended when she heard a knock on the door and the doctor came in.

"Hello Pepper! How are we?" Dr. Reynolds said cheerfully as she walked in

"I'm alright, I'm just here to confirm I'm pregnant," she said calmly " I took a test at home and it came out positive."

"Alright let's have a look then." The doctor said turning on the sonogram machine.

Pepper laid back on the table and was already breaking a sweat. She jumped a bit when the doctor bit when the cold gel was squeezed onto her lower abdomen. The doctor began to scan a Pepper's lower abdomen and turned the screen so she could see.

After a couple of moments she heard a constant thud. "There's the heartbeat." The doctor smiled "In fact you are pregnant." Pepper then saw a little flutter on the screen "That's your baby." Dr. Reynolds continued "You look to be around ten or eleven weeks, so I'd say you are should be due in early February.

"Ten or eleven weeks?" Pepper said a little startled "I only remember missing two periods."

The doctor nodded "It's common for the first couple weeks of pregnancy for women to have some spotting, and mistake it for their period."

After she thought she remebered her last period, which seemed lie forever ago but had remered her last period, or so she though, being lighter than norma. When she missed her first period she just assumed it was stress or something, but then got the feeling something was up once she went two months without one.

Her thoughts were soon cut off and in that moment hearing the heartbeat and seeing that little person, half her and half Tony, growing inside of her she knew that baby was theirs and no matter what situation belonged within the care and love of her and Tony no matter how he reacted or how difficult it may be this baby was theirs. Nothing else mattered.

When she got home she was looking into her bathroom mirror staring at her stomach, which was still flat, with the smallest little swell at the bottom of her stomach, only looking like a minor bloat.


	2. Stress to Suprise

Pepper woke up the next day from a horrible nightmare, Tony had been killed on a mission leaving her alone with their baby he never even knew existed, forced to raise it on her own. She got out of bed with steaming tears rolling down her face.

She got herself together and got dressed. She drove to Stark Industries and was unhappily surprised to see Happy reading a newspaper outside of her office. She immediately knew Tony put him up to it.

"Happy, I was just.." She started with a smile hoping he would let her pass

He stood firmly "No no no Miss Potts, this area is off limits."

Pepper grunted and rolled her eyes "Tony put you up to this didn't he?" there was no need for her to even ask.

"Yes ma'am, Mr. Stark said you can be anywhere but here." He said with a nod

She should have known earlier, but Tony knew her way too well. He knew even though she promised she'd still try to go and work, that was just typical Pepper and it was typical Tony to put Happy up to keeping her from doing just that.

"Fine." Pepper said sharply and turned leaving the building. She sat in her car for a long period of time, she had no clue where to go, if she couldn't work than what else was there? Just a moment later she found her stomach grumbling and her mouth watering at the thought of cookies and cream ice cream, then french toast.

She drove around for a little while and ended up at a little family-run breakfast joint where she surely satisfied her craving a whole plate of french toast with a side of eggs and bacon. Afterwards the taste of ice cream still lingered in her mouth, which ended up into a trip to the grocery store for just that but ended up coming out with a cart full of ice cream, fruit, and cheez-it's.

While she was out she stopped at a health store where she picked up a bottle of prenatal vitamins and a few pregnancy and parenting books.

The rest of her evening consisted of reading 'What to Expect While Your Expecting' and eating cookies and cream ice cream with a side of grapes.

Pepper was woken up by Jarvis the next morning. "Miss Potts, may I suggest that you wake now, Mr. Stark should be home in approximately an hour and a half."

She was still in the same yoga shorts and tank top that she was lounging in the night before, the book was faced down on the couch next to her and there was a bowl of melted ice cream on the coffee table. Her eyes shot up to the clock 7:30.

She immediately sprung up to the kitchen and rinsed the bowl out, then put the book in top shelf of the closet, with the others she had bought. With just under an hour to spare after cleaning up she jumped into the shower, dried her hair, and got dressed. She was just about to leave the bathroom when she heard the front door slam shut.

She walked out into the kitchen and caught Tony with a duffle bag still on his shoulder with his head in the freezer.

He turned around and they locked eyes and he set the pint of ice cream with a spoon sticking out of it onto the counter.

"Hey babe!" He said swallowing a bite of ice cream "Nice food choices." They almost never had junk food in their fridge, usually always healthy and organic choices.

She silently, but swiftly walked over to him and he caught her in a warm embrace that sent his duffel bag slamming to the floor.

She nuzzled her head into his neck "I missed you so much." She said pressing a gentle kiss into his skin.

He let out a slight laugh "I missed you too Pep." He leaned his head down and pressed his lips against hers.

They ended out laying in bed, in each others arms, her head pressed against his chest and his arm tight around her waist. A movie was playing in the background, but neither of them were paying full attention to it.

Pepper felt a gag form in her throat and started to cough, she was on the verge of throwing up again. She sat up and threw the covers off of her.

"Pep.. are you alright?" He asked alarmed, putting a comforting hand on the small of her back.

She ran up toward the bathroom and barley made it into the toilet.

"What's going on? Are you ok?" Tony yelled from the bedroom

"I'm ok." Pepper said lifting her head from the toilet, her stomach throbbing. Once she finished, she spent what seemed like hours sitting against the wall rubbing her stomach. She collected herself, brushed her teeth and walked back to the bedroom and found Tony passed out, she was only gone for no more than 10 minutes, but that was Tony for you.

"I'm pregnant." She said softly to herself

The next morning Pepper walked into the kitchen and saw Tony leaning on the counter, on his phone.

"Hey babe." He said walking over and to her and kissing pressing a chaste kiss on her lips

"Are you feeling alright? Because you seriously haven't been yourself lately, you've been all of task, and puking and sick. So what's up?" He asked gently holding her shoulders.

She took a deep breath and sat down at the table, where he joined her.

His eyes widened. "Oh yeah, I made waffles, no blueberries this time."

Pepper took another long and deep breath and looked him in the eyes,

"I'm.. um.. I'm pregnant." She said calmly

The news made him spit out the huge bite of a waffle. He sat there speechless for a long minute soaking it all in.

"Your um what?" he said still in shock

"Pregnant Tony" She said looking him straight in the face "We're having a baby."

"Are you sure it's mine?" he shot back

"Tony!" She rolled her eyes

She cleared her throat, nervous about what he was thinking.

"Well um... this is quite a surprise." He rubbed his forehead "I would have never seen this coming, it was never part of the plan." Pepper's heart was thudding against her ribcage by this point. "But the thought of having a baby with you, I've never really thought about it before but now thinking about it but the thought of it makes me happy, a little being half you half me, someone to carry on our legacy I think that's incredible."

Pepper's heart settled and she took a sigh of relief. She was speechless this was exactly what she wanted. Not knowing how to put her feelings into words she bent down to him and kissed him.

"So I guess that explains all the puking." He smiled

"Shut up" Pepper jokingly retorted

"I love you."


	3. Newfound Excitement

A week hadn't even passed since she told him that they we're having a baby. It was a Thursday afternoon and she had just walked into the door from a meeting, she looked around for a little while, no Tony. She ultimately concluded he was downstairs in the workshop. She walked down there and sure enough she saw him lounging on the couch flipping through a notebook.

"Hey." she said in a hushed tone, walking over toward him. She walked behind the couch and began to rub his shoulders, she looked vaguely recognized the neat cursive and on the front of the book was printed H. Stark. "Is everything alright?"

He sighed "Yeah... I just got to thinking how much of an ass my dad was, never told me he loved me, was never around at science fairs or little league games, he spent more time at a bar than with his own kid, it's like I barley knew him and before I knew it he was dead." Pepper could hear the hurt in his voice

"... I have no idea how to be a father, what if I just turn into him? What if I die and the only memory our baby has is of it's dad is that he never was there?"

She wrapped her arms tightly around him "Tony, you know that's not going to happen. You've become to self aware to let it, you may have not had the best childhood, neither did I, but let that drive you to be ten times the father yours ever was." She paused for a moment

"Minus the time I thought I lost you in New York, this is the scariest thing I've ever done, I'm so afraid that I'm just not cut out to be a mother and would be better off letting someone else raise this baby, but then I think of you and how great of a father you'll become and how maybe this was somehow meant to be." Her voice becoming hoarse

He turned up and looked at her "Your right, I don't want to miss a second of our baby's life, I will be more of a father than mine ever was, but Pep your already an amazing mother, don't ever say different, this may be a scary road but we have each other. I'd never want this with anyone else in the entire world."

"I love you so much." She said before pressing a kiss on his lips that made her toes curl.

Later that week Tony started clearing out the room just down the hall from his and Pepper's. It was once a modern style guest room, but was now being cleared out and was a construction zone.

After a week or so all the debris was gone and now the room was empty with drop cloths scattered on the floor, ready to paint. Pepper wasn't very fond of the deep gray walls and wanted a softer feel for the nursery.

Pepper was standing in the now empty room, Tony had just brought out the last box. He walked in carrying a can of the beige-toned paint Pepper had picked out. Once he set the can down she walked over too him a pressed her lips to his. "It's coming along really well, thanks for all the hard work baby."

He let out a quiet smirk "No worries, so in about a week we can find out what the baby is."

"Hey no! You know I want it to be a surprise." She shook her head

"C'mon Pep! Don't you wanna know? We can know whether to buy blue shit or pink shit." He protested

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth "Well, that's a valid point." She paused "But don't you just want to wait until he or she is born, to be surprised!"

"You do know your talking to one of the world's most impatient people right?" He said with a slight grin

Pepper let out a sigh "Alright, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to find out the gender." She said looking down with her hands resting on her newly formed bump

Tony walked over to her and placed a hand on the tiny swell "Well my extremely keen instincts already tell me that it's a boy, so bring on the blue."

"..Ha Ha, and if it's a girl?" Pepper grinned back

"I'm never wrong." He smiled back at her

"Well then Mr. know it all, have fun painting." She said walking out of the room

Pepper spent the rest of the evening in bed relaxing, and eventually fell asleep. She woke up when she rolled over and instead of feeling Tony pressed up against her, nothing. She sat up and looked at the clock 1:43. She got up and started looking around, the bathroom was empty, when she walked out and turned her head into the nursery she saw that the walls were all painted, and the drop cloths gone, a sight that made her smile.

After inspecting around for a little while longer she found Tony laying on the couch with 'What to Expect When Your Expecting' flipped open beside him, another sight that made her smile.

"Tony." She said hoping not to startle him

He jostled the moment his eyes opened, until he realized who it was.

"Pepper?" he groaned and rubbed his eye "What time is it?"

"Past 1, how bout you come back to bed now?" she bent over and pressed a kiss to his cheek

"Fuck, I really zoned out." He stood up, and the she pressed her lips to his

"Thank you for painting, it turned out really nice."

"No problem." He said following her back into the bedroom

{two weeks later}

Pepper another morning and yet again, no Tony is sight. She got up and found him in the nursery sitting in a familiar looking white glider.

When he saw her in the doorway he immediately got up and kissed her on the forehead. "Good morning sunshine!" he said cheerfully "Oh yeah, that came in this morning." He said pointing back at the chair.

She let out a groggy moan "Morning" she yawned "Your quite cheerful this early in the morning on a Saturday."

"Well do you know what today is?"

"September 8 ?" Pepper said

"Well technically yes, but we get to find out what the baby is today."

"Oh right." Pepper said in remembrance "We have an appointment at 9"

"Go get ready, and we can grab some breakfast before. Sound good?"

"Alright, someone's anxious." Pepper smiled

"Maybe a little." He smiled back at her

Pepper took a quick shower, got dressed and was ready to go within the hour. She walked out and met Tony in the middle of the living room, he pulled her into his arms and pressed his nose into her damp hair.

They ended up in a little breakfast dive. Tony picked at a plate of pancakes and a side of bacon, which was modest compared to Pepper who cleared two plates of waffles and a side of bacon and eggs, which completely satisfied her craving.

"Damn Pep you eat like a truck driver." He laughed

"Shut up" She played back "I'm eating for two here."

After he paid the bill, they headed out to the doctors.


End file.
